Hand Holdings Are What Reunions Are Made of, I'll Have You Know
by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: For SoKai Day. What might have happened if Axel hadn't kidnapped Kairi away from Twilight Town, and she and Sora actually got to reunite there instead. One-shot.


**Hand Holdings Are What Reunions Are Made of, I'll Have You Know**

"Oh! Sora! Do you know a girl named Kairi?"

The feeling that coursed through Sora when he heard these words from Pence-the boy he'd just barely remembered before, but who he'd make sure to remember from now on for this wonderful gift-was pure, unadulterated joy.

Sora paused at first, in shock-so very much unlike him-and slumped down the slightest bit, before charging right back up again and saying, "K…Kairi!? I sure do!"

And as he said the words, Sora knew he'd probably never sounded so excited in his life-and here he had worried he wouldn't be able to get _any_ sound to appearout for the lump that had appeared in his throat, when in reality... he probably sounded every bit like he was joy incarnate.

"Then you better come to the station!"

Sora pumped his fist downwards at the news, and he remembered how he'd done something similar when leaving the Hundred Acre Wood for the first time.

He had left the place a year ago to be able to go and look for Riku and Kairi, but things hadn't exactly gone according to plan there... But who knew? Maybe things were actually looking up now!

Chasing after Pence, as he led him and Donald and Goofy to the Station-the Station where Sora'd hoped to be reunited with the King before-Sora prayed that Kairi would be there when he reached the place, and that their game of intergalactic space tag would come to an end.

...

The first thing Sora noticed, upon seeing Kairi sitting on the station steps, was her hair.

Later, he would realize how silly that was, as there were many other things that he could've been considering, like how she'd seemed go grow even more inches than he had, or that her attire seemed a bit less tomboy, and even how her eyes seemed the slightest bit more reserved now, but...

As it happened, Sora was just so surprised to see Kairi with cranberry tresses that fell to her shoulders again-something that he hadn't seen since they had met, since she'd been five-that the Keyblade wielder was all but certain something amazing had to happen now, just as it had when he'd first found her washed up on the shore.

"Kairi!" Sora bellowed, cupping a hand over his mouth so that he could be heard better, as he began running towards her for all that he was worth (and only in the future realize would he realize he'd ruined the perfect opportunity to give Kairi a new perspective on him, but whatever: it was probably for the best that he'd hurried after her, anyway; she'd told him not to change, after all). "What are you doing here? What's going on? What's- Hey, look at that! The colors you used to wear on your armbands are now being represented in your bracelets instead!"

Kairi, seeming to not want to stay silent during Sora's entire tirade, had gotten to her feet almost immediately, and had then seemed to begin whispering his name in disbelief.

Sora couldn't blame her, for in perhaps hearing his new and aged voice now, Kairi had to keep reminding herself that it _was_ him.

But then, after that, the best part so far to Sora happened: Kairi positively yelled his name, in what sounded like glee to the Key bearer's ear (and he took this fact in very arrogantly), and she then began pacing all around him-just like Nala had done with Simba in trying to reunite with him in the Pride Lands.

Sora couldn't help to find this trait of Kairi's adorable, personally, though he couldn't understand why she wouldn't just let him hug her. But then again, she hadn't hugged him back at Hollow Bastion, either...

And as memories of their time in Hollow Bastion a year ago came back to Sora then-and with it all the duress they'd felt in the past-Sora felt his eager mood somewhat vanish, and he once again wondered how Kairi had even _gotten_ to Twilight Town.

The young man had read in one of Ansem's Reports, during his first journey, that the creep had cast Kairi into the OtherSky to test some dumb theory of his. And as that just sounded all kinds of awful, Sora now implored to the gods of Mount Olympus that something like that had _not_ been what had led to Kairi being with him now.

Gah! Riku would just _kill_ him, if it was; Sora could see it now...

Not that he wouldn't have deserved it, Sora remembered now-sending a glance in Donald's way, mentally daring him to protest that Kairi should come along with them now-in having left her unprotected for a year.

"Sora, how in the heck is your voice so deep? I wish I would've matured as much as you have, that way. Dang! And what's with all the black you're wearing? Don't tell me your goth stage has come on strong again? It totally clashes with your lighter hair, you know."

At this, Sora couldn't help but crack a smile. (And as he did so, Sora saw from the corner of his eye that Goofy had now covered his face, apparently thinking that he and Kairi were flirting with each other... and maybe- maybe he wasn't exactly wrong there.) As much as he wanted to be stern right now, and to worry about Kairi's safety-and his own failures-first, he had to admit that he loved hearing her cheek again: it was something he'd missed greatly all throughout his travels.

And Sora knew if he had less pressing matters to deal with at the moment, he probably would've retorted by asking her just when she'd become so girly... Which probably would have just led to her replying that she could still kick his butt even so, and then they'd just continue to go around in circles, and it would be like the "Aye, aye, Cap'n, Sora" thing all over again...

Suffice to say, Sora couldn't wait for that. But, no, he had much bigger things to worry about now. Primarily that trophy that Goofy was carrying that Seifer had given to him for being the "strongest guy in Twilight Town": something Sora didn't think he deserved at all, if Kairi had had to come here looking for him, and something had presumably happened to Riku.

"Kairi, not that I'm not glad to see you," and Sora _really_ was; probably too much, in fact, and he demonstrated this by quickly wrapping Kairi in his arms-patting her back far too thoroughly and even to a weird rhythm, in his enthusiasm in holding her, before pulling away again-and then they were both facing the trains below the edge of the Station line, that existed many stories below them.

"But... why did you come here? I'm actually a little surprised you did at _all_ , to be honest, because even the guys like Leon forgot about me, apparently. But anyway," and here Sora scratched the back of his head awkwardly, feeling like the biggest jerk on the planet for thinking that Kairi must've forgotten him.

Fortunately, though, Kairi took it all in stride, shrugged, and replied surprisingly listlessly, "Some weirdo in a black coat tried to kidnap me by talking about you, but I outmaneuvered him with Pluto-and someone else, I think's-help, and ended up here. But... we can talk about that later? Right now, that blue orb's glowing and I seem to be sensing something from it. Sora, do you feel that?"

Ignoring the fact that Kairi had apparently been _kidnapped_ because of him was the last thing that Sora wanted to do. And he felt so angry at the Organization in that moment, that he could barely even focus on what Kairi was saying. But it did seem as though Goofy had somehow dropped the trophy-for Pluto having come forward to tackle him in that moment, it looked like-and now all the crystals from it had fallen to the ground.

And just as Kairi had said, the blue one in particular _did_ seem to be glowing, and Sora... he was instantly drawn to it.

He picked the one up-as his gathered friends, as well as Hayner, Pence and Olette got the other ones-and then held it aloft, almost feeling overcome by something that he couldn't put his finger on at all. Sora just felt so nostalgic, so unlike himself, and he knew that there was something important out there trying to get through to him, if he could just focus on i-

"Sora!?" Olette asked concernedly, pulling Sora back to the present-something he was grateful for, because he didn't like the feeling he'd just been experiencing too much at all.

"Huh? What…?" Sora asked those gathered around him for some sort of confirmation, looking at each of them in turn (only just remembering since meeting Kairi again, really), as he did so.

Olette seemed to be... staring at him and Kairi in an adoring way? Jumping back slightly for that, Sora realized that Kairi _had_ put a reassuring arm on his shoulder, and that _that_ was what Olette was on about with them.

Sora, somewhat startled, moved so that Kairi was no longer holding onto him, but he made sure to bow at her in thanks, all the same-the two of them blushing and somewhat stammering things profusely as they did this.

Pence, meanwhile, seemed to want to bolt, it looked like-and was now even standing very close to Market Street. At this, Sora shrugged, wondering just what the heck _that_ was about.

As for Hayner? He was being tackled by Pluto, it looked like, and even enjoying it to bits-Sora grinned at this, thankful for the light in this situation still, seeing as how he just felt _so_ guilty about what had happened to Kairi because of him.

And Donald and Goofy, bless them, just seemed interested in Sora's well-being. The Keyblade wielder gave them both a thumb's up, before turning his Keyblade to the crystal that now seemed to be floating in the air?

Oh, wait, Sora had seen this before, hadn't he?!

Hero's Crest, coming to life in the wielder's hand in that moment, released a stream of light towards the floating, blue circle, just as a crown of light appeared beneath Sora's feet.

Everything turned black then, as always did, as Sora was temporarily pulled into the OtherSky. Then, in that very moment, the crystal temporarily turned into a Keyhole-one that would open a gate to the next world-and Sora did a quick acrobatic pose before shooting at the Keyhole, and returning to the real world in a flash of light.

Being back in Twilight Town temporarily blinded Sora's eyes, and even moreso in that Kairi's own strong light was right beside him, but he would take that to the alternative any day. He even slipped his hand into Kairi's own again at the thought of it, just as he had before in leading her to the Underwater Cavern back in Traverse Town.

"Wh-what just happened?" Pence asked, seeming to have recovered from whatever had been ailing him before, so he could focus on this new development.

"A new road is open," Sora explained, feeling very much excited again. Maybe... maybe things weren't so bad, after all. Kairi was now safe beside him, and he'd make sure she stayed that way, so they just needed to find Riku, and- "And my friend, Riku, and the King are waiting somewhere along it."

"You'd better hurry, then!" Olette chirped, making Sora regard her warmly again, and with a small grin, from where she'd been somewhat embarrassing him before.

"Roger!" Sora exclaimed to the brunette girl-squeezing Kairi's hand in his own as he did so, to hopefully show her that he meant to take her with him this time.

Apparently she didn't get the memo, though, for Kairi pulled her hand away from Sora's own, and began pressing her index fingers together, nervously, as she muttered, "So... do you plan to drop me off at Destiny Islands, then? Or-"

Behind him, Sora could hear Donald and Goofy laughing. And the Keyblade's chosen promised himself he'd especially get back at Donald for that later, through poking fun at him about Daisy, but right now there were more important things to focus on.

Taking Kairi's hand in his own once again, Sora winked at the blushing Kairi and quickly reassured her that, "What good would that do? That creep might find you on the Islands again, so you might as well come with me to find Riku, right? I'll be sure to look out for you that way!"

A warmth. A warmth on Sora's cheek that he'd never felt before, and Kairi... quickly ducking away from him, as if she'd done something suspec- _Oh_.

Suddenly feeling like he was on cloud nine, for the kiss that Kairi had placed on his cheek, Sora turned back to Kairi-who was now hiding inside the Station, it seemed-with a grin.

 _This_ was the girl who insisted she could handle herself and be just fine? Oy. Just what was he getting himself into, Sora wondered?

But then again... Kairi was now smiling at him through the glass, like someone else that Sora was sure he'd met before, and someone who surely meant a lot to him, and in that he found he was more than glad to have her along with him for the long haul than anything else.

Kairi's smile, after all, was one of the brightest things in Sora's world, and what had gotten him through many a hurdle. And now... now he would actually have it with him, from now on, instead of just relying on his hazy memory of it.

Going inside the building that housed the trains, and towards the ticket counter to retrieve Kairi, Sora was getting ready to tell her that she was going the _complete_ wrong way to reach the gummi ship. But with Kairi's close proximity to the ticket booth, Sora remembered the very tickets that the King himself had given them to go on that mystery train the first time: there were still things that they needed to look into about that, actually. And Kairi, Sora realized, had put it all in perspective for him. She sure was amazing

So coming over to her, Sora held onto Kairi's hand, pulled her into him for a moment-so that their sides bumped into each other for just a second, as they both laughed at it-and he smiled.

 **Author's Note: Tried to keep this pretty canon with KH here, and to especially make it sound like the novels, maybe (which is why I used the term "OtherSky", as used in those, instead of "Lanes Between"). In fact, this whole thing is full of novel references, so here's hoping that I succeeded...**

 **And apparently Pence feels awkward by Sora and Kairi's cuteness. That dork. LOL.**

 **Oh, and the person Sora's remembering at the end-through Kairi's one smile-is Naminé, of course. Yep!**

 **Happy SoKai Day, guys! And here's hoping that scene with Kairi at the mansion (teased at the BbSV2 secret ending in BbSFM) is in BbS0.2 A Fragmentary Passage now. LOL.**

 **Rawr!**

 **:D**

 **Also, the title of this is so from Sora's head. That dork, too. XD**

 **Oh! And for those who don't know, the "Aye, aye, Cap'n Sora" thing is an optional text bubble scene you can get between Sora and Kairi on the Islands in KH1. I suggest looking it up, if you don't know about it. It's really cute:)**


End file.
